Craig Hayes scored eight of his 21 points in the first three minutes of the second half to put Mount Olive ahead to stay and Darrell Patterson blocked a shot and hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final two minutes to help seal the win as the Trojans remained unbeaten with an 80-70 road win over Lenoir-Rhyne in non-conference men's basketball Monday at Hickory, N.C. Patterson finished with 16 points, while Hayes pulled down 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.

Mount Olive is off to a 5-0 start for the first time since the 2002-03 season.

Hayes, who was held to three points in the first half on a field goal and a free throw, opened the second half with a three-pointer and added a pair of free throws. Hayes canned another three-pointer with 17:04 remaining to break a 33-33 tie and give the Trojans the lead for good.

Patterson recorded three steals during a 12-0 run as Mount Olive extended its lead to 52-37 with 11:46 left to play. The margin grew to as many as 18 points after Derek Staton's steal led to Hayes' layup to give the Trojans a 60-42 advantage with 6:42 left.

The Trojans' lead was 16 with just over four minutes left after a three-pointer by Hayes before Lenoir-Rhyne (1-3) started chipping away. Denzel Dillingham, who scored a game-high 27 points, scored six straight Lenoir-Rhyne points to pull the Bears within 69-59 with 2:10 remaining.

After each team exchanged 1-for-2 trips at the free throw line, a Lenoir-Rhyne offensive rebound led to a putback attempt, but Patterson blocked the shot with 1:50 left in the contest. Patterson sank a pair of free throws with 1:31 left to build the lead back to 12. Lenoir-Rhyne got as close as eight points, but Patterson hit his final two free throws with nine seconds left to give the Trojans the double-digit win.

In the first half, Mount Olive fell behind 8-2 before a pair of three-pointers by Ewon Wright highlighted a 12-2 run to give the Trojans their first lead of the game. The Trojans led by as many as five points before Mark Terrell's jumper with exactly one minute left capped a 7-0 Lenoir-Rhyne run in the final two-plus minutes of the first half to give the Bears a 27-26 halftime lead.

Patterson and Kendall Hargrove recorded four steals apiece as Mount Olive forced 23 Lenoir-Rhyne turnovers. Patterson finished 9-for-10 for the line, while Hayes was 6-of-8. The Trojans connected on 16 of their first 20 free throws before finishing 29-for-44 from the line. Mount Olive overcame 25.8 percent first-half shooting by going 14-for-28 from the field in the second half.

Alan Jones finished with 12 points and eight rebounds for Lenoir-Rhyne, while Dillingham pulled down seven boards. Each team had only two players score in double figures.

Mount Olive heads into Thanksgiving break with a 5-0 record. The Trojans are idle for almost two weeks before traveling to Wilson, N.C., December 2-3 to compete in the Barton College Classic. Mount Olive faces a pair of CIAA opponents, taking on Elizabeth City State December 2 at 5:30 p.m. and Saint Augustine's December 3 at 2 p.m.